Faster horses
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And all this time we thought he could speak. He cheats...
If former President George W. Bush had brought a teleprompter with him whenever he spoke at a public event, would the mainstream media — who were always looking for new ways to depict him as a nincompoop — have used it to prove their point?
If the answer is “Yes,” then why isn’t President Barack “Have Teleprompter, Will Travel” Obama being so eviscerated?
Our new president views his teleprompter much like the old American Express slogan: “Don’t leave home without it!”
Before you answer, consider what Politico’s Carol E. Lee reported Thursday:
President Barack Obama doesn’t go anywhere without his TelePrompter.
The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president’s prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks. … Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual — not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small.
Wait a minute! Isn’t this the most intelligent man in the world? Can’t he memorize his speeches — regardless of how brief — like anybody else that engages in public oratory?
Apparently not. Just this morning, when Obama addressed Police Academy graduates in Columbus, Ohio, although he spoke for only about ten minutes, his trusty teleprompter was right by his side preventing him from making a boo boo.
Of course, as Lee pointed out, this crutch was quite obvious during the campaign:
After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, reports surfaced that he was training to wean himself off of the device while on vacation in Hawaii.
For those of you who have forgotten, here’s candidate Obama speaking without his safety-net at a town hall meeting in Bristol, Virginia, last July:
That should tell you why our new president views his teleprompter much like the old American Express slogan: “Don’t leave home without it!!!”
Keep Reading …
Share This 26 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, Politics
March 6, 2009 6:13 PM
Another Amazing Week in Obamaland
This has been an amazing week in Obamaland. The good news is that the president did what he said he would do and took on health care. I was lucky enough to sit in a “break-out” session Thursday with his White House Conference on Health Reform. It was about as bipartisan as you can get. There were real voices from both sides of the aisle from Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind-VT) to Roy Blunt (R-Mo). The “interest” groups and stakeholders were from all sides of the health care debate as well. Included in the breakout session was Fredette West from Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and John Engler from the National Association of Manufacturers. There was wide agreement that something needs to be done. Everything is on the table — from reducing liability to the single payer system. What was surprising were the two references to Hillary’s health Czar, Ira Magaziner. — No love lost there for him and the 1993 health debacle. Obama is not going to make that mistake, that was clear.
On the other hand, there is a recruiting problem in the Treasury Department and the complete free fall in the stock market as the employment data came out on Friday. The confidence level in the president is way up. His popularity is 15 points higher than when he was elected.
Pollster John Zogby says this is based on his “sheer personality”. At the same time 46 percent of Americans disapprove of his budget and 41 approve. When there are times like these and a rapid 24 hour news cycle the president should use the good will he has to communicate with the American people. He should stop having the traditional “roll out”
White House events where he gives a speech and sends his press secretary to answer questions. He needs to do what he did right after he was elected– do his own press. Every day should be the occassion for an FDR-type “Fireside Chat” accessible via television, Internet and radio.
Everyday should be an illumination of what he is doing and how he is going to help the millions of people who have lost or or about to lose their jobs. He is popular, people trust him and he ought to use every blood cell in his body to let the American people know how he is going to put the economy and the country in a new direction.
Share This 218 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, Politics, Top Stories
March 6, 2009 5:10 PM
Top 5 Things We Learned From the Health Care Summit
By Tevi Troy
Visiting Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute/Former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services
President Obama has been very outspoken regarding his preference for a major health reform package this year, particularly in last week’s address to a Joint Session of Congress, what I call the “non-State of the Union.” Unfortunately, he has been somewhat vague on the specifics thus far, and so Thursday’s Health Summit has provided an opportunity to peel back the curtain to some small degree and learn something about the White House approach to this issue. Here are the top 5 things we learned from yesterday’s summit:
1. President Obama is Serious
We got an inkling of this last week, when the president had a heavy emphasis on health in his non-SOTU, but we really saw it yesterday. This was a tremendous investment of White House time and effort. Of course, effort is important, but it does not always translate into success. Bill Clinton sure threw a lot into his health care plan, and the White House launch was followed by the regional visits is somewhat reminiscent of President Bush’s Social Security tour in 2005. –We all know how both of those turned out.
2. Congress Will Likely Lead the Way
There were an awful lot of members of Congress there, which is a little unusual since members prefer to attend events where they get to speak more than they listen. And the stimulus package showed that the administration will let Congress take the lead on key legislative priorities. President Obama was quite open about this in his remarks, saying, “I just want to make sure I don’t get in the way,” and adding that he had “strong ideas, but I don’t have a monopoly of good ideas.” — Watch Congress closely in the months ahead.
3. President Obama is Trying to Split the Opposition
The White House wants to make sure that the same coalitions that fought a Democratic health overhaul in the past will not reassemble in the same form. In fact, the president even said that “anyone who wants to say no to everything won’t prevail this time around.” You can see this from the list of who was invited, and who was not. Billy Tauzin, CEO of Pharma, was there, but the heads of BIO, the biomedical manufacturers’ association, and ADVAMED, the device manufacturers’ group, were not there. Among the insurers, Scott Serota, CEO of Blue Cross, basically begged forgiveness for the infamous “Harry and Louis” ad of days gone by, asking the crowd to treat the past as the past.
4. HHS Secretary-Designate Sebelius Was Not There
President Obama has assembled a team of heavy-hitter health experts at the White House, including Nancy-Ann DeParle for the health reform czar job Tom Daschle would have had in addition to his HHS duties. Sebelius’ absence could signal that she will not be a major player in shaping the health package, and instead will focus on the massive and important job of managing HHS, letting the White House mavens work with Congress on the details.
5. There Are No Magic Bullets
The break out sessions themselves were mostly unsurprising. For example, many of the experts agreed we need to promote prevention efforts. Really? The familiar quality of the discussion could indicate that the administration is not going to pull any rabbits out of a hat. The reform effort, while bold, remains vague enough on the details that President Obama could say that Newt Gingrich and Ted Kennedy agree on the need for electronic health records, which they do. Of course, how we get there is what causes the disagreement, and yesterday’s summit still has not provided the answer to that question.
Tevi Troy is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, and a writer and consultant on health care and domestic policy. He has previously served as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, and as a senior White House policy advisor.
Share This 165 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, Other News, Politics, Top Stories
March 6, 2009 1:39 PM
Now You Have Something to Worry About Besides the Economy: Iran
By Oliver North
Host, “War Stories“
The Obama administration’s remarkable inability to say or do the right things to aid our sinking economy, stay the collapse of our equities markets or even build a competent Cabinet is now the stuff of cartoons, talk-show fodder and late-night comedy. Who hasn’t heard the one about how “this year’s IRS 1040 allows every taxpayer to claim one Geithner or a Daschle depending on how much tax you don’t want to pay?” Humor may help us deal with our current financial travail, but national security is no laughing matter.
Unfortunately, this week has proven that the new administration may be no better at protecting us from incoming Iranian nuclear warheads than it is at creating jobs.
• Catch the ‘War Stories Classic: Operation Rolling Thunder,’ Monday, March 9 at 3 a.m. ET
It started last Sunday, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on NBC that Iran isn’t “close to a stockpile, they’re not close to a weapon at this point, and so there is some time.” That same morning on CNN, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen was asked if Iran has enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb. “We think they do, quite frankly,” he replied. The Admiral added, “Iran having a nuclear weapon… is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world.”
Somehow, it doesn’t seem that both Pentagon leaders can be correct.
Keep Reading …
Share This 341 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, International News, Politics, economy
March 6, 2009 11:45 AM
Top 10 Porky Projects
By Eric Bolling
Co-Host, “Happy Hour,” FOX Business Network/Host, “The Strategy Room,” FOXNews.com
With the economy on the brink, President Obama has put forward some gutsy spending initiatives. He says they will help jumpstart the economy and bring it back to life. But some of his spending may not be for the good of all the people, I gather.
As the dollar signs flashed before my eyes, I set out on a mission to find some of the more ridiculous earmarks and porky projects.
Here are some highlights…ah…lowlights:
Top Ten “Porky” Projects:
10-$1.7 million for a honeybee lab
9- $800,000 to study catfish genetics
8- $8 billion train from Las Vegas to San Francisco
7- $5 million for salaries at the Sugar Beet Lab in Michigan
6- $500,000 for the fruit fly research
5- $200,000 for Tattoo removal in Los Angeles
4- $400,000 to train teachers on bullying
……and the bronze, silver and gold go to these stars:
3- $59 million to study the mating habits of the Pacific salmon
2- $2 million for astronomy awareness in Hawaii!
1- $1.8 million to study the effect of swine odor on the environment
If it weren’t so ridiculous, it would be funny….We are not laughing, Washington.
If former President George W. Bush had brought a teleprompter with him whenever he spoke at a public event, would the mainstream media — who were always looking for new ways to depict him as a nincompoop — have used it to prove their point?
If the answer is “Yes,” then why isn’t President Barack “Have Teleprompter, Will Travel” Obama being so eviscerated?
Our new president views his teleprompter much like the old American Express slogan: “Don’t leave home without it!”
Before you answer, consider what Politico’s Carol E. Lee reported Thursday:
President Barack Obama doesn’t go anywhere without his TelePrompter.
The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president’s prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks. … Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual — not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small.
Wait a minute! Isn’t this the most intelligent man in the world? Can’t he memorize his speeches — regardless of how brief — like anybody else that engages in public oratory?
Apparently not. Just this morning, when Obama addressed Police Academy graduates in Columbus, Ohio, although he spoke for only about ten minutes, his trusty teleprompter was right by his side preventing him from making a boo boo.
Of course, as Lee pointed out, this crutch was quite obvious during the campaign:
After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, reports surfaced that he was training to wean himself off of the device while on vacation in Hawaii.
For those of you who have forgotten, here’s candidate Obama speaking without his safety-net at a town hall meeting in Bristol, Virginia, last July:
That should tell you why our new president views his teleprompter much like the old American Express slogan: “Don’t leave home without it!!!”
Keep Reading …
Share This 26 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, Politics
March 6, 2009 6:13 PM
Another Amazing Week in Obamaland
This has been an amazing week in Obamaland. The good news is that the president did what he said he would do and took on health care. I was lucky enough to sit in a “break-out” session Thursday with his White House Conference on Health Reform. It was about as bipartisan as you can get. There were real voices from both sides of the aisle from Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind-VT) to Roy Blunt (R-Mo). The “interest” groups and stakeholders were from all sides of the health care debate as well. Included in the breakout session was Fredette West from Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and John Engler from the National Association of Manufacturers. There was wide agreement that something needs to be done. Everything is on the table — from reducing liability to the single payer system. What was surprising were the two references to Hillary’s health Czar, Ira Magaziner. — No love lost there for him and the 1993 health debacle. Obama is not going to make that mistake, that was clear.
On the other hand, there is a recruiting problem in the Treasury Department and the complete free fall in the stock market as the employment data came out on Friday. The confidence level in the president is way up. His popularity is 15 points higher than when he was elected.
Pollster John Zogby says this is based on his “sheer personality”. At the same time 46 percent of Americans disapprove of his budget and 41 approve. When there are times like these and a rapid 24 hour news cycle the president should use the good will he has to communicate with the American people. He should stop having the traditional “roll out”
White House events where he gives a speech and sends his press secretary to answer questions. He needs to do what he did right after he was elected– do his own press. Every day should be the occassion for an FDR-type “Fireside Chat” accessible via television, Internet and radio.
Everyday should be an illumination of what he is doing and how he is going to help the millions of people who have lost or or about to lose their jobs. He is popular, people trust him and he ought to use every blood cell in his body to let the American people know how he is going to put the economy and the country in a new direction.
Share This 218 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, Politics, Top Stories
March 6, 2009 5:10 PM
Top 5 Things We Learned From the Health Care Summit
By Tevi Troy
Visiting Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute/Former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services
President Obama has been very outspoken regarding his preference for a major health reform package this year, particularly in last week’s address to a Joint Session of Congress, what I call the “non-State of the Union.” Unfortunately, he has been somewhat vague on the specifics thus far, and so Thursday’s Health Summit has provided an opportunity to peel back the curtain to some small degree and learn something about the White House approach to this issue. Here are the top 5 things we learned from yesterday’s summit:
1. President Obama is Serious
We got an inkling of this last week, when the president had a heavy emphasis on health in his non-SOTU, but we really saw it yesterday. This was a tremendous investment of White House time and effort. Of course, effort is important, but it does not always translate into success. Bill Clinton sure threw a lot into his health care plan, and the White House launch was followed by the regional visits is somewhat reminiscent of President Bush’s Social Security tour in 2005. –We all know how both of those turned out.
2. Congress Will Likely Lead the Way
There were an awful lot of members of Congress there, which is a little unusual since members prefer to attend events where they get to speak more than they listen. And the stimulus package showed that the administration will let Congress take the lead on key legislative priorities. President Obama was quite open about this in his remarks, saying, “I just want to make sure I don’t get in the way,” and adding that he had “strong ideas, but I don’t have a monopoly of good ideas.” — Watch Congress closely in the months ahead.
3. President Obama is Trying to Split the Opposition
The White House wants to make sure that the same coalitions that fought a Democratic health overhaul in the past will not reassemble in the same form. In fact, the president even said that “anyone who wants to say no to everything won’t prevail this time around.” You can see this from the list of who was invited, and who was not. Billy Tauzin, CEO of Pharma, was there, but the heads of BIO, the biomedical manufacturers’ association, and ADVAMED, the device manufacturers’ group, were not there. Among the insurers, Scott Serota, CEO of Blue Cross, basically begged forgiveness for the infamous “Harry and Louis” ad of days gone by, asking the crowd to treat the past as the past.
4. HHS Secretary-Designate Sebelius Was Not There
President Obama has assembled a team of heavy-hitter health experts at the White House, including Nancy-Ann DeParle for the health reform czar job Tom Daschle would have had in addition to his HHS duties. Sebelius’ absence could signal that she will not be a major player in shaping the health package, and instead will focus on the massive and important job of managing HHS, letting the White House mavens work with Congress on the details.
5. There Are No Magic Bullets
The break out sessions themselves were mostly unsurprising. For example, many of the experts agreed we need to promote prevention efforts. Really? The familiar quality of the discussion could indicate that the administration is not going to pull any rabbits out of a hat. The reform effort, while bold, remains vague enough on the details that President Obama could say that Newt Gingrich and Ted Kennedy agree on the need for electronic health records, which they do. Of course, how we get there is what causes the disagreement, and yesterday’s summit still has not provided the answer to that question.
Tevi Troy is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, and a writer and consultant on health care and domestic policy. He has previously served as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, and as a senior White House policy advisor.
Share This 165 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, Other News, Politics, Top Stories
March 6, 2009 1:39 PM
Now You Have Something to Worry About Besides the Economy: Iran
By Oliver North
Host, “War Stories“
The Obama administration’s remarkable inability to say or do the right things to aid our sinking economy, stay the collapse of our equities markets or even build a competent Cabinet is now the stuff of cartoons, talk-show fodder and late-night comedy. Who hasn’t heard the one about how “this year’s IRS 1040 allows every taxpayer to claim one Geithner or a Daschle depending on how much tax you don’t want to pay?” Humor may help us deal with our current financial travail, but national security is no laughing matter.
Unfortunately, this week has proven that the new administration may be no better at protecting us from incoming Iranian nuclear warheads than it is at creating jobs.
• Catch the ‘War Stories Classic: Operation Rolling Thunder,’ Monday, March 9 at 3 a.m. ET
It started last Sunday, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on NBC that Iran isn’t “close to a stockpile, they’re not close to a weapon at this point, and so there is some time.” That same morning on CNN, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen was asked if Iran has enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb. “We think they do, quite frankly,” he replied. The Admiral added, “Iran having a nuclear weapon… is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world.”
Somehow, it doesn’t seem that both Pentagon leaders can be correct.
Keep Reading …
Share This 341 Comments » Posted Under: First 100 Days, International News, Politics, economy
March 6, 2009 11:45 AM
Top 10 Porky Projects
By Eric Bolling
Co-Host, “Happy Hour,” FOX Business Network/Host, “The Strategy Room,” FOXNews.com
With the economy on the brink, President Obama has put forward some gutsy spending initiatives. He says they will help jumpstart the economy and bring it back to life. But some of his spending may not be for the good of all the people, I gather.
As the dollar signs flashed before my eyes, I set out on a mission to find some of the more ridiculous earmarks and porky projects.
Here are some highlights…ah…lowlights:
Top Ten “Porky” Projects:
10-$1.7 million for a honeybee lab
9- $800,000 to study catfish genetics
8- $8 billion train from Las Vegas to San Francisco
7- $5 million for salaries at the Sugar Beet Lab in Michigan
6- $500,000 for the fruit fly research
5- $200,000 for Tattoo removal in Los Angeles
4- $400,000 to train teachers on bullying
……and the bronze, silver and gold go to these stars:
3- $59 million to study the mating habits of the Pacific salmon
2- $2 million for astronomy awareness in Hawaii!
1- $1.8 million to study the effect of swine odor on the environment
If it weren’t so ridiculous, it would be funny….We are not laughing, Washington.